Machines such as, for example, motor graders, wheel tractor scrapers, dozers, wheel loaders, and other types of heavy equipment are used to perform terrain leveling tasks. These machines are often operated over uneven terrain, causing individual wheels to be displaced relative to the machine's frame as the machine's wheels track the uneven terrain. In machines with a tandem wheel drive assembly, the tandem assembly is connected to the machine via a single axle with a pair of wheels mounted to a drive housing positioned on each side of the vehicle via a pivoting or oscillation joint. The oscillation joint pivotally connects the chassis to the outwardly positioned drive housing while enclosing the power relaying components of the drive assembly. With a known conventional suspension incorporating pivoting or oscillation joints, the machine's wheels track the terrain and the suspension is structured to manage downward as well as shear forces imparted on the wheels during machine operation. An example of a machine incorporating an oscillation joint is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,959,169 issued to Gentry et al.
In particular, the oscillation joint is housed within an axle assembly, and is located in proximity to the differential and away from the wheels which makes the oscillation joint prone to higher forces due to the moment arm effect between the wheels and the differential. Traditionally, the bearing geometry within the oscillation joint consist of two vertically oriented thrust washers sandwiching a cylindrical ring bearing which is positioned between the portion of the housing enclosing the axle and the drive housing. As the oscillation joint wears, the thrust rings' respective clearances increase resulting in increased side-to-side movement and, as a result, premature wear ensues.
Maintenance of the traditional oscillation joint typically requires adding shims to one or both of the thrust washers to take up the gap caused by wear of the thrust washers. This causes added expense and machine downtime. Moreover, the ring bearing may wear at a different rate than the pair of thrust washers resulting in additional maintenance events and the replacement of unevenly worn components. Additionally, the individual thrust washers may experience different degrees of wear. Such uneven wear often results in early replacement of the bearing combination within the oscillation joint. Moreover, using axial shims only addresses the axial forces that are experienced within the joint and does not allow for radial gap adjustment. A typical method of providing for both radial and axial gap adjustment in a rotating application is to utilize opposing tapered roller bearings or crossed roller bearings. However, known tapered roller bearings have predetermined angularity between the roller bearings and the axial direction of the oscillation joint. Custom made units of tapered roller bearings and crossed roller bearings are expensive and often impractical for large diameter bearing applications.
The present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of the shortcomings set forth above.